Street-indicator for tramcars



H. S. EVANS.

STREET INDICATOR FOR TRAMCARS. APPLICATION FILED APR.I8.1916.

. 27 v Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

HENRY s. EVANS, or EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA.

STREET-INDICATOR FOR TRAMCARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 6. 1920.

Applieationfilecl April 18, 1916. Serial No. 91,897.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY S. EvANs, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Chicago, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Indicators for Tramcars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whlch 1t appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in street indicators for tram cars and the principal object of the invention is to provide a device which is so arranged as to notify passengers on street railway and other cars of the name of the station or street the car is approaching.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device which is arranged to operate by contact with an electrical tripping contact on the trolley.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of a novel contact arm carried by the trolley pole for conducting the power to the indicator.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement. of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of an indicator constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view through one end of the device.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 through the opposite end of the device.

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the indicator.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 1 designates the casing of the device having mounted in its ends a suitable shaft 2. The casing is provided with a side opening 3 covered by any suitable transparent material and the shaft 2 is arranged in direct alinement with the opening to facilitate the proper operation of the device. Mounted on opposite ends of the shaft 2 are suitable disks 4 carrying the pins 5 which project radially therefrom and are adapted to engage the webbing on which the names of the streets or stations are printed. One of the disks 1 carries a suitable ratchet wheel 6 while the opposite disk carries the wheel 7. The ratchets of the wheel 6 are turned oppositely to the ratchets of the wheel 7 so that the dogs which willbe more fully hereinafter described will operate when the frame is swung.

The frame above referred to consists of a U-shaped frame 8 having the ends of its arms journaled on the shaft 2 and swivelly secured intermediate the ends of the arms of the frame are the dogs 9 and 10 which respectively engage the ratchet wheels 6 and 7. It will thus be seen that when the frame is swung upwardly the dog 9 will rotate theshaft in a counter-clockwise direction and when the frame swings downwardly the dog 10 will rotate the shaft in a clockwise direction.

To provide a means for moving the frame suitable solenoids 11 and 12 are positioned on opposite sides of the frame and the sliding cords of said solenoids are connected to the bight portion of the frame as illustrated in Fig. 1 so that when the solenoid 11 is energized the frame will move upwardly and when the solenoid 12 is energized the frame will move downwardly. In order that the frame will be supported in a neutral position when the solenoids are deenergized a suitable retractile coil spring 13 is connected to the bight portion of the frame and has its upper end connected to the top of the casing as clearly illustrated in the drawings.

Surrounding the shaft 2 at opposite ends are suitable pulleys 14: and 15 over which the belts 15 and 16 pass. The opposite ends of these belts run over the ends of the roll ers 17 and 18 respectively on which the webbing 19 is wound. This webbing 19 is provided with suitable characters which are visible through the side opening 3 and are arranged to indicate the names of the streets. In order to hold the web in proper position before the side opening suitable guide rollers 20 are provided near the forward side of the casing and the pins 5 carried by the disk are arranged to engage the web to assist in its movement and also to hold the same toward the frontwall of the casing 1.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that when either of the solenoids 11 or 12 are energized their sliding cores will move so that the frame will be swung in the direction of the solenoid which is energized thereby causing the shaft to rotate in clockwise or counterclockwise direction. On the outgoing trips the dog is moved out of en- IIO gagement with the ratchet wheel 7 and held out of engagement by a suitable pin, which extends through openings 8 and 9 in the arm and dogs. Then it will be understood thatrotation in clockwise direction may be had. On the return trip the dog 10 is arranged in engagement with the ratchet wheel 7 and the dog 9 is moved out of engagement with respect to the ratchet wheel 6 thus counterclockwise rotation will be had. The rotation of the shaft will cause the belts 15 and 16 to revolve the rollers 17 and 18 and thereby move the Web so that the characters seen through side opening 3 will be changed to indicate the station being approached.

WVhile in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changes may be made in the combination and arrangement of parts as will fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A station indicator including a casing having a sight opening, guide rollers in said casing above and below the sight opening, drive rollers in said casing and spaced from and in horizontal alinement with said guide rollers, a web having characters thereon wound on said drive rollers and passing over the guide rollers in rear of the sight opening, a centrally located shaft secured in said casing, means on said shaft for engagementwith the web, oppositely directed ratchet wheels secured to said means, a substantially U-shaped frame having the ends of its arms journaled to the outer ends of the shaft, a spring secured to the web portion of said frame and to the casing for normally supporting the frame longitudinally, spring actuated and oppositely disposed dogs pivoted to the arms of the frameand adapted to engage the ratchet wheels, and upper and lower solenoids connected to the web portion of the frame and supported by the casing for swinging the frame upwardly and downwardly. c

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY S. EVANS.

Witnesses LEO BONAVEN 'rURA, WALTER CHOWCARY. 

